MENLO TIMES

ICEYE , building actionable intelligence for resilience, readiness & response, led by Rafal Modrzewski, Pekka Laurila, and Eric Jensen, and Rheinmetall , an integrated technology group, led by Armin Papperger, have received  a major order from the German Armed Forces for the space sector. The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) has commissioned Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide the German Armed Forces with

Enlightra , building scalable, extreme-bandwidth, and low-power optical interconnects for the future of computing and communications, led by John Jost and Maxim Karpov, has announced it has raised a total of $15 million in funding to tackle the biggest bottleneck in AI infrastructure: fast and energy-efficient data transfer. The company’s investors include Y Combinator , Runa Capital , Pegasus Tech Ventures , Protocol Labs , Halo Labs, Asymmetry Ventures , and TRAC VC , among

Radiant , a clean energy startup building a nuclear microreactor, led by Doug Bernauer , Dr. Rita Baranwal, Dr. Mike Starrett, and others, has raised  more than $300 million in a new round of funding led by Draper Associates  and Boost VC , with additional financial commitments from current investors, reinforcing their continued confidence in Radiant’s positioning in the microreactor space. As part of this latest capital raise, Radiant also received additional investment from

Southern Launch , provider of bespoke space mission services including orbital launch, suborbital missions, orbital re-entries, and range services, led by Lloyd Damp, Rebecca Darcey, Tori Murray, and others, and Lux Aeterna , building the world’s first fleet of reusable satellites to transform the future of space operations for defense, intelligence, commercial, and in-space manufacturing customers, led by Brian Taylor, have signed  a contract to conduct orbital re-entries of

Navier AI , developing agent-driven engineering, led by Cameron Flannery and Evan Kay, has announced  $5.6 million in seed funding and its launch from stealth. The round includes participation from GV  (Google Ventures), HCVC , and Y Combinator . Engineering has seen two major productivity leaps: CAD replaced manual drafting, and simulation enabled virtual testing. Navier introduces the third, Agent-Driven Engineering, where AI agents automate repetitive design-to-engineering

Chai Discovery , engineering better molecules using artificial intelligence, led by Joshua Meier  and Matthew McPartlon , has secured  $130 million Series B financing round co-led by Oak HC/FT  and General Catalyst , with participation from Thrive Capital , OpenAI , Menlo Ventures , SV Angel , and others, alongside new investors Emerson Collective  and Glade Brook , valuing the company at $1.3 Billion. The Series B round brings Chai’s total funding to more than $225 million.

Quantum Systems , developer of Aerial Intelligence Systems, led by Florian Seibel, Sven Kruck, Matthias Lehna, and Dave Sharpin, and Frontline Robotics , a Ukrainian defence technology company that develops and manufactures robotic systems for Ukraine's security and defence forces, led by Pavlo Kosolapkin and Yevhenii Tretiak, have launched  “Quantum Frontline Industries”(QFI), a German-Ukrainian joint venture that will establish Europe’s first fully automated, industrial-sca

Soverli , an ETH-Zurich spin-off, led by Ivan Puddu and Moritz Schneider, has secured  $2.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Founderful , with participation from the ETH Zurich Foundation , Venture Kick , and cybersecurity industry figures. Built on four years of ETH Zurich research, Soverli’s patent-pending technology runs multiple isolated operating systems on a single device, enabling a sovereign OS to operate alongside Android on standard smartphones with fast, seamless

Quantum Diamonds ,  building next-gen testing tools based on quantum sensing to solve one of the semiconductor industry’s hardest problems, led by Dr. Fleming Bruckmaier and Kevin Berghoff, announced  a €152 million investment plan to establish the world’s first production facility for advanced chip testing systems. The Munich facility is a strategic asset for strengthening Europe’s semiconductor position and is expected to receive tens of millions of euros in public funding

Kuva Space , empowering decision-makers with actionable planetary intelligence through innovative space and AI technology, led by Jarkko Antila, Jerry Welsh, Tuomas Tikka, and others, has partnered  with the WWF-Indonesia (WWF-Indonesia) to launch an initiative that uses satellite data and AI to monitor and quantify Indonesia’s vast blue carbon assets. The collaboration will map seagrass and mangrove habitats in East Nusa Tenggara and East Kalimantan, creating scalable data f

EpilepsyGTx , a biotechnology company focused on research and development of cutting-edge gene therapies to treat refractory epilepsy, led by Nicolas Koebel, Prof. Dimitri Kullmann, Dr. Joanne Broadhead, and Dr. Luiz Almeida Silva, has secured  $33 million in a Series A financing from XGEN Venture, the British Business Bank, and a global biopharmaceutical company. Taylor Wessing LLP advised EpilepsyGTx on the round, A&O Shearman advised XGEN Venture, and Panmure Liberum Cambr

University 2 Ventures , building the #1 pre-seed/seed deep tech university spin-off investment platform for Europe, led by Dr. Philipp Semmer, Dr. Johannes Triebs, Michael Schmitt, and Moritz von Klot, has completed  the first closing of its €60 million Fund I, with support from corporates including anchor LP Jungheinrich via Uplift Ventures , alongside family offices, serial entrepreneurs and industry executives. The fund is designed to support teams transforming Europe’s re

Odin Space , securing the future of space by developing advanced space debris detection and orbital mapping, led by James New and Dan Terrett, has secured  $3 million led by Steel Atlas , with participation from Iron Prairie , Tiny VC , and Cur8 Capital , and several other funds/angels. The funding will accelerate Odin’s mission to enhance space safety by enabling spacecraft operators, manufacturers, and space agencies to more accurately predict and monitor hazardous sub-cent

Fervo Energy , delivering 24/7 carbon-free geothermal energy, led by Tim Latimer, Jack Norbeck, PhD, David Ulrey, Christian Gradl, Sarah Jewett, and others, has announced  the closing of its oversubscribed $462 million Series E funding round, led by new investor  B Capital , with participation from new investors, including AllianceBernstein, Atacama Ventures, Carbon Equity, Climate First, Google, Mitsui & Co., Dr. Kris Singh (Founder of Holtec International), and JB Straubel.

Nu Quantum , building the quantum networking technology to scale quantum computers, led by Dr. Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Dr. Claire Le Gall, Ed Wood, Danny Garden, Amii Shepperson, Sam Funnell, and Jonathan Cumming, has secured $60 million in Series A funding round led by National Grid Partners , including participation from Gresham House Ventures  and Morpheus Ventures , and continued support from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners , IQ Capital , Ahren Capital , C

Orbital Marine Power , the future of clean, predictable power solutions, led by Andrew Scott, Chris Milne, and Oliver Wragg, has secured £7 million in investment. PXN Ventures  – the combined VC arm of Praetura Ventures and Par Equity- joined existing shareholders, including Scottish Enterprise, to invest in Orbital. The investment follows strong momentum in Canada, where Nova Scotia recently awarded Orbital and Eauclaire Tidal Ltd major new tidal energy licenses through its

Boom Supersonic , the company building the world’s fastest airliner, led by Blake Scholl, Rachel Devine, Jeff Mabry, Megan Young, and others, has announced  a backlog of more than $1.25 billion for its Superpower turbine and revealed its launch customer, Crusoe . The company also closed a $300 million funding round led by Darsana Capital Partners , with participation from Altimeter Capital , ARK Invest , Bessemer Venture Partners , Robinhood Ventures , and Y Combinator . Supe

Quantum Dice , harnessing the quantum properties of light to solve some of today's most critical computational challenges, led by Dr Ramy Shelbaya, Dr Marko von der Leyen, and Dr Zhanet Zaharieva, secured a €2 Million grant from the  European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator  programme, with the project now officially underway following its October kick-off. Quantum Dice, one of only 40 deep-tech start-ups across Europe, and among just three from the UK, was selected from

Quilt , the world’s most intuitive, advanced, and efficient ductless heat pump on the market, led by Paul Lambert, Matthew Knoll, and Bill Kee, has secured  a $20M Series B round from   Energy Impact Partners , Galvanize ,  Lowercarbon Capital ,  Gradient Ventures ,  Alumni Ventures , Incite Ventures , and others. The company is welcoming  Tom vonReichbauer (former CFO of Nest, Sunrun, and ICON) and  Veery Maxwell  (co-head of Galvanize Climate’s Innovation + Expansion fund)

Unconventional AI , rethinking the foundations of a computer to optimize energy efficiency for AI, led by MeeLan Lee , Sara Achour , Michael Carbin , and Naveen Rao , has secured  $475 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed  and Andreessen Horowitz , with participation from Sequoia , Lux Capital , DCVC , Future Ventures , Jeff Bezos, and many other amazing investing partners, valuing the company at $4.5 Billion. Naveen Rao, cofounder and CEO, will personally be investing $